The Subject

Date: 4/1

Subject name: Unknown

Cell: 176

Observation room: 298

Conditions: No clouds, new moon, bright stars

Time frame: Approx. 0200-0210

Observations: The subject lay very still. Its previous howlings and ravings had stopped, and it appeared exhausted by the exertion. I had not allowed the attendants and porters to enter the room to restrain the subject as a consequence of previous attempts to restrain the subject during its fits. I have been told to be more careful with my expenditure of hired hands.
         I signalled for one of the attendants to enter the room to prepare the subject for a physical examination. He trembled as he stepped into the room, his hand resting gingerly on the edge of the door. There was no obvious method of opening cells from the inside; I had ensured that. I signalled again, and two other attendants pulled the door shut behind him and locked it. He whirled around, catching himself off-balance and colliding heavily with the wall. He let himself slide to the floor, one hand pressed to his forehead. It came away red with blood. I leaned forward.
         As if on cue, the patient began to twitch. Its thin, pale limbs jolted, the shudders becoming increasingly violent. Its eyes snapped open, eyeballs writhing in their sockets. With a final shake, it threw itself off its pallet onto the floor. It froze, its cold eyes locked on the assistant, who let out a yelp.
         I turned the volume up.
         The subject began to squirm its way along the wooden floor. Its nails splintered and tore, leaving its fingers bloody. The attendant pressed himself into the door, screaming for anyone outside to help him. But they had already left, and it was just him, me and the subject. For all intents and purposes, he was alone.
         After what seemed like an eternity for the attendant and mere seconds for me, the subject seized the attendant’s foot. He was silent, quivering in terror. It pulled itself closer to him, its muscles rippling with impossible strength for one so undernourished. Pulling itself into an upright position, it leaned forward, inhaling deeply.
         Snakelike, it darted forward, digging is broken nails like claws into his throat. He screamed as it straddled his waist, riding him to the floor. Hungrily, it sucked at the shallow cut in his forehead and raked at his neck, tearing his skin and savagely drawing blood from every inch its claws reached. The attendant fought desperately, but the subject swatted away his writhing limbs and dug deeper.
         A grin crept across my face and my hand reached below the hem of my skirt.